Ethics and ownership

Computer Science AS · Ethics and ownership. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Ethics are the moral principles that guide how a professional behaves. Computing professionals build systems that affect the public, so they are expected to act honestly, competently and in the public interest. Bodies such as the BCS and IEEE publish a code of conduct and support their members.

Copyright law gives the creator of software legal ownership of it. Others may not copy, change or sell it without permission. A licence states what a user may do with the software.

Artificial Intelligence is the ability of a computer to do tasks that normally need human intelligence, such as recognising speech or images. You should be able to give its social, economic and environmental effects, both good and bad.

Rules to remember

Joining a professional body gives: a code of conduct to follow, training and guidance, and recognition that the member meets a professional standard.
Acting unethically can harm the public and lead to loss of reputation, loss of the job and legal action.
Free Software Foundation: users may run, study, change and share the software; changed versions must be released under the same terms.
Open Source Initiative: the source code is available, and users may modify and redistribute it.
Shareware: free to try for a limited time or with limited features, then the user must pay. The source code is not provided.
Commercial: a fee is paid for a licence; no copying or modifying; the source code is not provided; support and updates usually come with it.
AI impact: economic (some jobs replaced, new jobs created, lower costs), social (bias, privacy, help in medicine), environmental (large energy use for training models).

Common mistake

Free software does not mean free of charge. It means freedom to use, study, change and share. Also, shareware is not open source: its source code stays hidden.

Worked example

A college wants a program for its science department. Its students must be able to read the source code, change it for a project and share their versions. Which licence type is suitable?

Reading and changing the code needs the source code. Commercial software and shareware do not provide it, so both are ruled out.
An Open Source Initiative licence gives access to the source code and allows modification.
It also allows redistribution, so students can share their changed versions legally.

Answer: An open source licence (a Free Software Foundation licence would also meet all three needs).

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